Marion legislative delegation weighs in on Libya policy

Some local Republican lawmakers say they support the troops now engaged in combat in Libya, but are questioning President Obama's thinking in sending them there in the first place.

By Bill ThompsonStaff writer

Some local Republican lawmakers say they support the troops now engaged in combat in Libya, but are questioning President Obama's thinking in sending them there in the first place.U.S. Reps. Cliff Stearns, Rich Nugent and Daniel Webster — all of whom represent Marion County — suggest the idea of protecting Libyan civilians might be worthwhile, but that Obama needs to better explain the goal of using force.The U.S.-led bombing on Libyan air-defense systems to establish a no-fly zone began Saturday with missile strikes from air and sea.Military action was launched to support a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for protecting civilians caught up in the escalating battle between forces loyal to Libya's leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, and the rebel forces seeking to topple him.U.S. forces sustained the first loss of an aircraft Monday night, when an F-15E Strike Eagle warplane crashed. Both crew members had ejected, were rescued and safely returned to American forces. A mechanical failure was blamed for the crash.Nationally, Obama's decision to attack Gadhafi's forces has raised questions among Republicans, who mostly have opposed military action or wanted a better explanation for it.Democrats, meanwhile, have generally been more divided and outspoken, with some urging Obama to support the people challenging dictators like Gadhafi across the Middle East and others arguing that the president overstepped his constitutional bounds by ordering air strikes on Libya.Locally, Republicans questioned the wisdom of attacking Libya at this moment, expressing concern about the goal and cost of military action, both in terms of dollars and forces already stretched thin from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan..

Cliff Stearns"Now that our service members are engaged in military action in Libya, I support a safe and quick completion of their mission," Stearns said in a statement."I am concerned that President Obama has so far failed to identify what American national interest is being served in this intervention, as well as its specific goals," the Ocala Republican continued."I think the American people also would like to know what factions we are backing in this civil war and where they would take Libya if they succeed in removing Gadhafi. Is this a legitimate struggle for freedom or a tribal civil war?""In addition," Stearns offered, "with a national debt approaching $15 trillion and the government operating on a three-week, stopgap spending bill, are these expenditures absolutely necessary?"Richard Nugent"I have no idea what Secretary [Robert] Gates, Adm. [Michael] Mullen and the other top military brass told the President in confidence, but I sincerely hope he listened to their advice," Nugent, R-Brooksville, said in a statement.Nugent represents western Marion, including Dunnellon and Rainbow Lakes Estates."We're already fighting two wars and our allies have the technology to establish a no-fly zone," Nugent continued. "I don't get the same reports as the president, but it doesn't make sense on the surface. The bottom line is that I will always support our troops wherever the president orders them to go, but if it were me, I'd make sure they were focused on winning the wars we're already fighting."

Daniel Webster"I'm confident our soldiers can execute any mission they're given," Webster said in an interview. "But we have to clearly define our mission and our objective, and I don't know that that's happened yet."If we're there to protect civilians, and if we believe the no-fly zone is the best way to do that, that's great. But in other parts of the world civilians are dying at the hands of leaders we support, and we're doing nothing for them.""If we think Ghadafi needs to go we ought to say that. I think it's a mixed signal so far," he said.Webster, an Orlando Republican, represents portions of eastern Marion, including parts of Ocala, Silver Springs Shores and Fort McCoy.

Other voicesA spokesman for U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat who represents part of northeast Marion, did not respond in time for this article.Other Florida politicians have also weighed in on recent events in Libya.Alan Grayson, an Orlando Democrat who was ousted by Webster last November, sent an email to supporters that characterized the administration's action in support of a no-fly zone as "a tactic in search of a strategy" — one that utterly fails to shield Libyan civilians from their greatest threat, the pro-Ghadafi forces on the ground.Grayson instead called for economic sanctions that would deprive Libya of its oil revenues."Libya has about four years of oil revenue in the bank, but with an asset freeze and economic sanctions, that becomes meaningless. Whatever the result in the streets, as soon as Gadhafi runs out of money, he's gone," Grayson observed."A no-fly zone is basically just looking like you're doing something to remove Gadhafi, at the cost of $60 million in a day (which was the cost of the first day's worth of cruise missiles launched)," he added. "More fundamentally, a no-fly zone in Libya feeds the dangerous fantasy that every problem has a military solution."U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican and chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement that President Obama must "clearly define for the American people what vital United States security interests he believes are currently at stake in Libya." She added, "Deferring to the United Nations and calling on our military personnel to enforce the ‘writ of the international community' sets a dangerous precedent."Ros-Lehtinen, like Stearns, voted in favor of a House resolution in October 2002 that authorized then-President Bush to use military action in Iraq against Saddam Hussein.The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution in November 2002 whose conditions, the Bush administration said, were violated by Saddam in launching the Iraq war in March 2003.Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or bill.thompson@starbanner.com.

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